The morning of Friday 30th August 2013 saw us awake in the Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, and go down for a delicious and substantial breakfast. The staff also kindly warmed up my soup and put it in the flask for me.

       

Our first target was the nearby summit of High Vinnalls G/WB-012. I found the road out of Ludlow, behind the castle and drove past the main forest car park. At the Vinnalls car park, I parked and studied the trail map on the large information board. It turned out that the green and white trail passed over the summit, so Liam and I set off following these waymark posts.  This was a gentle and hugely enjoyable walk in the warm morning sunshine. At the top, we commandeered the bench close to the wooden watchtower, which now looks to be in a poor state of repair.

       

As well as the best walk of the two day outing, this was also the best activation. A total of 38 contacts was made up from 26 on 12m CW, 9 on 12m SSB, 2 on 12m PSK31 and 1 on 2m FM. Included were S2S with Klaus DF2GN/P on Weisstannenhöhe DM/BW-014, Daniel OK1DIG/P on Rovná hora OK/ZL-037 and Mirko S52CU/P on Koprivnik S5/CP-005. Furthermore, IS0 (Sardinia) and A6 (United Arab Emirates) made it into my log for added interest.

Therefore there was a spring in my stride and a warm glow of smug satisfaction was we descended back to the car park. The next target was another very easy one - Hegdon Hill G/WB-023.